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Dictionary:

conversation

  (kŏn'vər-sā'shən) pronunciation
n.
    1. The spoken exchange of thoughts, opinions, and feelings; talk.
    2. An instance of this: held a long conversation on the subject.
  1. An informal discussion of a matter by representatives of governments, institutions, or organizations.
conversational con'ver·sa'tion·al adj.
conversationally con'ver·sa'tion·al·ly adv.
 
 

An interactive dialog between the user and the computer.



 
Thesaurus: conversation

noun

    Spoken exchange: chat, colloquy, confabulation, converse, dialogue, discourse, speech, talk. Informal confab. Slang jaw. See words.

 
Idioms: conversation

Idioms beginning with conversation:
conversation piece

In addition to the idiom beginning with conversation, also see make conversation.


 
Antonyms: conversation

n

Definition: dialogue, discourse
Antonyms: quiet, quietude, silence


 
Devil's Dictionary: conversation
A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce


n.

A fair to the display of the minor mental commodities, each exhibitor being too intent upon the arrangement of his own wares to observe those of his neighbor.


 
Word Tutor: conversation
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: A talk, exchange of thoughts.

pronunciation I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. — George Bernhard Shaw.

 
Quotes About: Conversation

Quotes:

"Debate is masculine, conversation is feminine." - Amos Bronson Alcott

"It is all right to hold a conversation but you should let go of it now and then." - Richard Armour

"A good conversationalist is not one who remembers what was said, but says what someone wants to remember." - John Mason Brown

"The great gift of conversation lies less in displaying it ourselves than in drawing it out of others. He who leaves your company pleased with himself and his own cleverness is perfectly well pleased with you." - Jean De La Bruyere

"The true spirit of conversation consists in building on another man's observation, not overturning it." - Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

"Never hold anyone by the button or the hand in order to be heard out; for if people are unwilling to hear you, you had better hold your tongue than them." - Lord Chesterfield

See more famous quotes about Conversation

 
Wikipedia: conversation
Lenin and Stalin in conversation
Enlarge
Lenin and Stalin in conversation

Conversation is the verbalization of concepts involving abstractions and concrete objects which make up the world we live in.

A conversation is communication by two or more people, or sometimes with one's self, often on a particular topic. Conversations are the ideal form of communication in some respects, since they allow people with different views of a topic to learn from each other. A speech, on the other hand, is an oral presentation by one person directed at a group.

Those engaging in conversation naturally relate the other speaker's statements to themselves, and insert themselves (or some degree of relation to themselves, ranging from the replier's opinions or points to actual stories about themselves) into their replies. For a successful conversation, the partners must achieve a workable balance of contributions. A successful conversation includes mutually interesting connections between the speakers or things that the speakers know. For this to happen, those engaging in conversation must find a topic on which they both can relate to in some sense.

Conversation analysis is a branch of sociology which studies the structure and organization of human interaction, with a more specific focus on conversational interaction.

Types of conversation

Sometimes, when talking colloquially, banter can be referred to as "bants".

Conversation conducted in formal but unstructured settings can be particularly valuable in enlivening those in the growing population of retired, and sometimes otherwise isolated, people in advanced countries. Institutions such as the University of the Third Age provide such settings. Here the great diversity of life experience and points of view provide a very rich resource for advanced learning.

"Banter" or "O-shaberi" (O-Shabs) in Japanese, is the art of jovial and frivolous conversation and behavior, which can be taken to several different levels, and can be liable to involve crude, offensive sexual joking which may offend some. It is also liable to be very personal, being directed at particular people and may develop into direct offense and 'mickey' taking of a person. The saying 'If you can't take the banter, canter' means that if you take offense to another's comments/actions when they were intended only to amuse, then you should leave. The use of banter is often suggested by the seduction community, the rationale being that sexual tension cannot exist without polarity; thus, teasing and otherwise "messing with" the person can actually create attraction. Banter is particularly difficult for those on the autistic spectrum, or those with Semantic Pragmatic Disorder.

Flat 3/1 93 Nethergate is the banter capital of the world. Tennants Fraiser Tait, Viktor Lazovic and Nikul Patel along with friends make sure banter is kept to a high standard everyday.

Television programs described as "talk shows," such as William F. Buckley's Firing Line or the Dick Cavett Show, can be considered as exercises in conversation. In entertainment talk shows, however, the conversation is often pre-scripted.

Men and women

A study completed in July 2007 by Matthias Mehl of the University of Arizona shows that contrary to popular belief, there is little difference in the number of words used by men and women in conversation[1]. The study showed that on average each of the sexes uses about 16,000 words per day.

Literature on conversation

Authors who have written extensively on conversation and attempted to analyze its nature include:

  • Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Al Switzler, and Ron McMillan have written two New York Times bestselling books on conversation. The first one, "Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High," McGraw-Hill, 2002, teaches skills for handling disagreement and high-stakes issues at work and at home. The second book, "Crucial Confrontations: Tools for Resolving Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, and Bad Behavior," McGraw-Hill, 2005, teaches important skills for dealing with accountability issues.
  • Charles Blattberg has written two books defending an approach to politics that emphasizes conversation, in contrast to negotiation, as the preferred means of resolving conflict. His From Pluralist to Patriotic Politics: Putting Practice First, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-19-829688-6, is a work of political philosophy; and his Shall We Dance? A Patriotic Politics for Canada, Montreal and Kingston: McGill Queen's University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-7735-2596-3, applies that philosophy to the Canadian case.
  • Paul Drew & John Heritage - Talk at Work, a study of how conversation changes in social and workplace situations.
  • Deborah Tannen - The Argument Culture: Stopping America's War of Words, Conversational Style: Analyzing Talk Among Friends, Gender and Discourse, I Only Say This Because I Love You, Talking from 9 to 5: Women and Men at Work, That's Not What I Meant!, You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation

See also

External links

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References

  1. ^ [1] Roxanne Khamsi, NewScientist.com news service 6 July 2007: Men – the other talkative sex.I thank them for letting them me do this research. Retrieved 8 July 2007. (Original article Are Women Really More Talkative Than Men?Mehl et al., Science 6 July 2007: 82 DOI: 10.1126/science.1139940.)

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Translations: Translations for: Conversation

Dansk (Danish)
n. - samtale, konversation

idioms:

  • conversation piece    genremaleri, konversationsstykke

Nederlands (Dutch)
gesprek

Français (French)
n. - conversation, entretien, (Comput) dialogue

idioms:

  • conversation piece    (Art) tableau de genre, qui alimente bien des conversations

Deutsch (German)
n. - Konversation, Unterhaltung, Gespräch

idioms:

  • conversation piece    Gesprächsgegenstand

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - συνομιλία, διάλογος

idioms:

  • conversation piece    αντικείμενο που δίνει αφορμή για συζήτηση

Italiano (Italian)
conversazione, colloquio

idioms:

  • conversation piece    oggetto di conversazione

Português (Portuguese)
n. - conversação (f), palestra (f), convivência (f)

idioms:

  • conversation piece    peça (f) de mobília, coisa (f) que serve como tópico de conversa

Русский (Russian)
разговор, дискуссия

idioms:

  • conversation piece    популярная тема для разговора

Español (Spanish)
n. - conversación, plática, conferencia, entrevista, diálogo

idioms:

  • conversation piece    tema de conversación

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - konversation

中文(简体) (Chinese (Simplified))
会话, 交谈, 说话

idioms:

  • conversation piece    一种风俗画, 谈话题目

中文(繁體) (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 會話, 交談, 說話

idioms:

  • conversation piece    一種風俗畫, 談話題目

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 회화, 교제, 성교

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 会話, 非公式会談, 性交, 交際

idioms:

  • conversation piece    話題になるもの, 団欒図, 対話劇

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) حديث, مكالمه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮דיבור, שיחה‬


 
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American Sign Language
commtechlab.msu.edu
 
 
Shopping: conversation
dvd sale conversation with god
 
 

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. THIS COPYRIGHTED DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY.
All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.
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Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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